For many of us, the time we spend riding BART or Muni can be one of the least inspiring parts of the day. It’s a time out of time, spent mostly waiting to be somewhere else. Commuters with headphones snake headphones from ear to ear, eyes focused on smartphones and iPads, or on the pages of books and newspapers. And on the train, it’s sometimes too loud to talk to anyone, even when you want to.

Local painter Brett Amory sees that experience differently. For him, public transportation is a gathering place – kind of like a town square on wheels. And it’s given him the perfect venue to find the subjects of his paintings.

Amory has been getting lots of attention in gallery shows in San Francisco, San Jose, LA, New York, and London. KALW’s Julie Caine sat down to talk to him about the inspiration behind his work. He says it all started back in 2000 on his daily commute on BART…

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BRETT AMORY: I was living in San Francisco and I was working in Emeryville. I was taking BART every day to work, and I noticed how BART would be packed with people and there’d be this disconnect. People rarely look at each other, you know, let alone speak to each other. And everyone seemed to be in their own little worlds.

JULIE CAINE: Riding the train everyday, painter Brett Amory was intrigued by the anonymity of the people all around him. He wanted to know what they were thinking about. He wanted to imagine their lives. So he started painting them. He called the series “Waiting.”

AMORY: It’s essentially about waiting to be somewhere else – in transit – and how there’s this disconnect. While we’re waiting for something, we’re off in our own thought. You know, we’re thinking about our past, we’re thinking about our future, but most of us aren’t in the present moment. And we’re not really paying any attention to our surroundings or who’s around us….

AMORY: Usually the people in my paintings don’t really fit, and they seem awkward. They’re the people that are overlooked. You know, you see them on the sidewalk, or you see them walking down the street and you might think, “I wonder what they do when they go home?” But then you forget about them.

CAINE: Is there anybody you can remember, like, someone that sticks out in your memory that you can describe to me that you would see a lot?

AMORY: Hmm… There was this girl, I never put her in a painting, but I would see her on the bus every day. We’d cross paths, at the same time, every single day. It was like clockwork. She’d be crossing Post and Leavenworth. And I had just gotten on the bus at that point. Everyday, like clockwork, we’d cross paths.

CAINE: Did you guys ever say hi or make eye contact?

AMORY: I was on the bus, and she was always walking, so yeah – I’d just keep going and she would keep going her way.

Amory’s paintings are emblematic of the solitude of urban life. A man sits slumped by himself, lit by the glow of a bus stop on a darkened street. A middle-aged woman waits on a BART platform, face blurred, purse clutched to her side.

AMORY: There’s a lot of isolation. I try to think about the aesthetic, and I try to evolve the idea in some shape, way or form.

More recently, that has meant moving his subjects out of isolation.

AMORY: This last batch of paintings was called, “White Light.” The paintings were more hopeful. People in the paintings were in the now, they have crossed through, or went through a passage, and they’re in this enlightenment.

The paintings aren’t easily forgettable. In fact, some of them are larger than life, as big as 10 by 7 feet. For Amory, that’s the point.

AMORY: I like to bring attention to these people. And doing them on a large scale, you’re forced to pay attention to them. When I show them at a gallery, or sometimes I put them up on the street, you’re forced to look at them, ‘cause the scale is so monumental.

To preserve his own impressions, Amory makes sketches and takes snapshots of people he wants to paint, careful to catch them in candid moments, when they’re unaware of him. For him, the nameless and faceless become as familiar to him as his own reflection.

AMORY: So I remember one person I spent probably 40 hours looking at, doing a painting of. And then one day I was on the Muni and I saw them on Market Street waiting for the bus. And I thought I knew him. I mean I almost got off the bus to go talk to him, and then it dawned on me: Oh, no that’s the person I put in the painting. And I spent hours looking at their picture. It’s like, I don’t really know them at all.

We’ve all had that experience in the city – recognizing the face of someone we’ve never actually met. There can be a certain sadness in that. But for Amory, there’s also intimacy, and possibility. If you pick your head up for a moment to look around.

This morning, outside San Francisco’s City Hall, a campaign launched to gather enough signatures to place an initiative on the ballot in November 2012 that would replace the death penalty with life without parole.

This coming week SAFE California (“Savings, Accountability, and Full Enforcement for California Act”) will tour San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego to gather signatures and inform people about the price justice and the community pay for the death penalty.

Among the speakers were law enforcement leaders, families of victims, and exonerated persons. One of them was Lorrain Taylor whose two sons, Albade and Obadiah, were gunned down in 2000 at the age of 22. In the clip above, Lorrain talks about why she is signing the petition.

The Occupy Wall Street movement continues to develop in cities around the country and here all around the Bay. Early this morning, San Jose police arrested four protesters outside City Hall, and cited another for camping on public property.

In downtown San Francisco today, interfaith religious leaders marched in support of the burgeoning movement.

Meanwhile, in Oakland, demonstrators continue to defy the city’s orders to take down their tents.

Oakland’s encampment went up two weeks ago, when hundreds of people took to the streets outside Oakland’s City Hall in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement – and they haven’t left. Over the past two weeks, Frank Ogawa Plaza has become a veritable tent city, complete with a free kitchen that serves food daily, a medical center, a kids’ zone, and wooden pathways built between the tents.

Oakland city officials had been relatively tolerant of the occupation until last Thursday, when they issued a notice to vacate, citing health and safety concerns. So far, the police have not made a move to enforce the ban on overnight camping.

Protester Penny Opal Plant says she thinks the demonstrators are in for the long haul:

PENNY OPAL PLANT: Personally, speaking for myself, I think that the tents will stay and the tents will stay wherever they are around the country. And that if the tents get taken down that they’ll come back with more people, and that there’s Twitter and Facebook and all the telephones, and every other way that people let others know that the tents are being taken down in every city. When those words go out, people show up.

Last week, KALW’s Jen Chien and Sara Bernard spent a day at the encampment – from early morning until midnight – to learn more about its culture, rhythms, and logistics. Here’s what they found, as reported by Jen Chien.

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JEN CHIEN: It’s 7:30am and some city workers at Frank Ogawa Plaza are using some very noisy, high-powered hoses to clean off the steps. There aren’t a lot of people up yet, even with all the noise. But then a sleepy-eyed man stumbles out of a tent near the camp’s main center…

SHEIK ANDERSON: My name is Sheik Anderson, I’m from Oakland, California, and I’m an artist.

I ask him to give me the lay of the land.

ANDERSON: We have a supply tent where we have clothes that are donated, blankets, sleeping bags… We have a school where we have information, we have a media tent and an info tent, we even have a little garden growing, and we have a full kitchen – no one’s hungry…

There’s no one individual that could take responsibility for anything that is done here. Everything is a collective effort.

And that’s not just for practical reasons. Unlike at most political protests, many at Occupy Oakland see this collective effort as fundamental to their aims: a promise of a new way to organize society. You can see it in action around the plaza. Over in the kitchen area, two young men are peeling carrots and potatoes in the prep tent, while two others are serving cooked food at a long table. Jamal Porter shows me around the kitchen area.

JAMAL PORTER: My name is Jamal Porter, I was born here in Oakland, California. And I’m here to assist. The front table is lined with condiments and staffed by serving individuals, who serve anyone who’s hungry. Off to the side we have our little pantry, with our oats and berries, and canned goods that people are so generously donating…

We go in shifts, we don’t have a schedule, just someone shows up and relieves someone. And then behind that is where the dishes are done. So this is going on 24 hours a day.

The high-pressure hoses have now stopped and it looks like a yoga teacher has set up for a class, but no students yet… There are some tourists taking some photographs of the encampment.

MIKE PORTER: My name is Mike Porter, I’m from Concord. I’m kind of embarrassed to say it, but I sell Direct TV. I am pedaling a bike that’s hooked up to an alternator, to power our media tent, and to charge cell phones.

CHIEN: Have you taken a shift here, for a specific amount of time?

PORTER: I just saw there was nobody on it, and I was finished eating, have some time to kill before I have to be at work, so…

The campers put down straw all over the grass at Frank Ogawa Plaza. And they’ve made a walkway using wooden pallets and boards going through the tent area. There’s a lot of tents, and among the hundreds of tents, there’s even a kids’ zone, with crayons, toys, and books. Rachel Dorney, sporting a green face-paint mustache, is watching the kids.

RACHEL DORNEY: This can be a really big driving force for the occupation. Just not being so serious all the time, and aggravated. If people would just look around and be like, “There are these beautiful kids, and the activities that they’re doing, it’s just so wonderful.” The other day we had this drum circle with the kids and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I kind of cried a little bit, just seeing it. It was perfect. I kind of wish the world could be like this …

It’s about 8:45 in the morning, and right in front of City Hall, the yoga class now has five students, and live musical accompaniment. Over at the opposite end of camp from the central kitchen area is a first aid tent, and I notice some port-a-potties over to one side…

CHIEN: Inquiring minds want to know, where are people using the bathroom?

CARLA WEST: There are these Porta-Potties. They are getting a little full. They are serviced on a regular basis, but they might need to do it more often …

That’s Carla West, a radio producer and high school tutor who has been camped out at Occupy Oakland for the last three nights.

WEST: During Monday to Friday, nine to five, City Hall is open. I’m a taxpayer, I help to pay for those bathrooms, so I go in there and use those also.

Amanda Kolstad has been traveling back and forth from San Jose to volunteer in the medical tent.

AMANDA KOLSTAD: They’re basically offering first aid care to everybody here. Water, sunscreen, bandaids, trying to keep it a safe space. People with medical situations can come here and we’ll try and get them the appropriate help that they need.

By mid-morning, I’ve gotten a good sense of how things work in this mini-city. I’ve met a diverse range of people – different in race, class and ethnic origin, but most call the East Bay home. Even though basic parts of life continue as normal – eating, exercising, using the bathroom – there are many parts of a day in this life that are not so normal.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: If we really believe it is possible, to organize this 99%, we have more than enough work cut out for us.

ANDERSON: So we have a bulletin board so we know when the meeting and events are.

Throughout the day, people gather to discuss topics like conflict resolution and how to propel the movement outside of the camp’s perimeters. But this is where the lack of central organization is really obvious. Sessions are rescheduled or canceled, often scattered by rumors and shifting personal agendas. And everyone’s geared up to protect the camp’s borders from police intervention, but so far, they haven’t needed to worry that much.

CARL BETFORD: My name is Carl Betford … I actually do security here, every morning from six to eight, I volunteer my time to patrol the perimeter and make sure that everything is kosher. I’ve been here since Day One, and I’ve seen a little bit of movement on the part of the police, but mostly they’ve been hanging back, probably strategizing. So we want to be able to meet their strategy with our own strategy, to resist.

Many people told me about an incident from the night before involving police presence, but the stories varied widely, showing the lack of centralized information. It reminded me of the old game, “Telephone.” Here’s how Carla West told it:

WEST: We were woken up by our security at about 5am, there were some undercover police outside, so they set off our camp alarm and woke everybody up in camp … We all woke up, got dressed, got our bags and met in the front of camp … but then we realized that we weren’t going to be raided, so we all went back to bed.

Well-known Berkeley activist Zachary Runningwolf gave a different view.

ZACHARY RUNNINGWOLF: The last couple days the police have really been flexing their muscles. And last night we spotted them down the street … 17 police officers in riot gear, they were ready to go! We were on alert, they were doing a little chase down the street … so it came pretty close…

The prolonged tension of living in such close quarters with such a diverse group has created some interpersonal conflicts – even a few alleged incidents of violence. A safer-spaces committee was formed early on, and there are workshops on peer mediation and violence de-escalation. As night approaches, everyone gathers on the amphitheater steps for the daily general assembly at 7pm.

MALE ANNOUNCER: Attention everybody, the GA will be beginning in five minutes.

It begins with an open forum. People form a line next to the mic, waiting for their turn to speak.

DANIEL KAYA: Hey my name’s Daniel Kaya. All today I’ve been trying to explain to some of my friends from my childhood what we’re doing. And they all want this clear demand set first. … We’re not on the same damn page, we’re not trying to force a hostage situation and like, “Give us this and this and this and this.” It’s not like that. It’s much more than that. This society is not serving the needs of so many people. And that’s what we have in common. In lots and lots and lots of different ways. (applause)

This is the moment when the protesters seem most united and focused – and when many people who aren’t camping with the occupiers show up to speak.

JONATHAN: Hi, my name’s Jonathan. I’m a project manager. I’m one of the 99%. I have three words for you: Move Your Money. (applause)

After the general assembly, hundreds of people remain in the camp. It’s still pretty lively. There are people all around the edges, there are people cooking, there’s a whole stew in a pot, there are people hanging out and smoking, talking, and drinking hot liquids, conversing.

T: My name is T, they call me T. I’m from West Oakland, California…

T, a young man who declined to give his last name, was recently released from jail.

T: Yeah I stay out here, I been tented up here for the last six nights, this is going on Day eight or nine, damn near … I be out here in downtown Oakland all the time, I pass through here, I job hunt… I finally see something in Oakland, when I come downtown I finally see something. I just want to be a part of it. This is very important right here; this is history. This is going on all around the world.

It’s almost midnight, and I’m still out here at Occupy Oakland. While a lot of people have probably gone to sleep, I imagine that some of these people that are up right now – it’s almost midnight – are going to stay up for the night. Definitely the security shifts will be going all night, people will probably be making food all night, and otherwise preparing for the next day of occupation.

Police in San Jose have cleared out the overnight Occupy encampment, but some protesters remain around the clock, by climbing to places where the long arm of the law won’t bother to reach…
In spite of Occupy protests, presidential hopefuls are still … …

ALI WINSTON: As Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts stood at a podium in front of a pack of reporters last week, he took a moment to reflect before beginning his resignation speech:

ANTHONY BATTS: I want to pause for a second because this may be my last news interview as a chief of police in the organization. So I want to savor it for one second. Okay. I just wanted to see how that felt.

When Batts arrived in Oakland from Long Beach two years ago, he had no idea his tenure here would be so brief. What he did know is that Oakland faced serious problems. Here’s Batts on his inauguration day in 2009, explaining why he took the job. At first, Batts says he refused when a headhunter, Wasserman, called.

BATTS: Three days later, four officers were gunned down in the city of Oakland. Three days later, I watched on TV this play itself out. I watched the pain and suffering in the police department. I watched the pain and suffering in the community, as it hurt, too, at the same time, and I came up here to the funeral … and I texted back to Wasserman, and I told him I wanted to help. I saw the pain on both sides, I saw the disconnect on both sides, and I wondered if I, in some small way, could make a difference.

And the city of Oakland too, seemed to think Batts could make a difference. The community initially rallied around the new chief, but the problems of policing in Oakland proved greater than what Batts anticipated. The city’s yawning budget deficit meant OPD couldn’t afford new recruits and even suffered layoffs. Meanwhile, violent crime spiked. In his resignation speech, Batts said his hands were tied.

BATTS: No chief wants to be in a position where he or she is being held accountable but does not have the power to make a dramatic impact. This is not focused at one individual or individuals, it’s just a lot of bureaucracy in the city of Oakland as a whole.

Oakland’s political scene has interpreted that swipe at the city’s “bureaucracy” in different ways. To some, like City Councilmember Patricia Kernighan, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, “bureaucracy” means City Hall.

PATRICIA KERNIGHAN: I think given the sort of dysfunctional relationship that did exist between him and the mayor and I suppose the rest of the city bureaucracy, and the sort of logjam of no decision-making that’s been happening around the city for the last two months, in many ways now I think it’s better that he’s moving on and hopefully the mayor or the new chief will start making some decisions and taking action on public safety matters.

As possibly the final straw, the city council and the mayor tabled new gang injunctions, a youth curfew and an anti-loitering law. Batts supported the measures. But they faced opposition in the city’s troubled neighborhoods. Former City Councilmember Wilson Riles Jr. says Batts misread the political landscape.

WILSON RILES JR.: He got, I think, more deeply involved in politics than he should and because of his personality and the outgoing nature of it and his feeling that he needed to be in control of the department and the department’s policies, and the council ought to continue to do with him what it did with all prior police departments and chiefs – gave them everything they wanted, it kind of I think rubbed him the wrong way.

Riles says that’s when Batts decided to apply for chief of police in San Jose.

RILES: Once he didn’t get the position in San Jose, people were very hurt in Oakland because they’d had so much hope before and they felt like they’d been betrayed by him.

Batts’ departure coincides with the release of a scathing judicial report. The Oakland Police Department has been under federal oversight since 2003. That year, a group of rogue officers were accused of abusing community members in West Oakland. The department agreed to a number of reforms.

But change hasn’t come fast enough. Last week, days before Batts resigned, a report blasted the chief for his lack of progress. Riles, however, says blame lies in an entrenched culture of aggressive, sometimes unconstitutional policing within OPD.

RILES: It’s the character of the department that developed over some period of time that I think Batts had the potential to break that down and to resolve that because he took such a strong stand in connecting to the community. I don’t think that we’re going to find another police chief who’s going to be as outstanding in terms of working towards community relations and community connections as Batts had. So in some ways, that does not bode well.

If those relations remain sour, the federal court could place the department in receivership. Which could prove harrowing for Batts’ successor. Don Link is the head of a North Oakland crime prevention council. Link fears that taking control of the police department out of city hands may also have fiscal implications that would further strain any department leader.

DON LINK: If that happens, a federally-appointed trustee will be making all the decisions, including financial decisions. And he could say, “We’re going to increase the department by 200 cops, give us the money.” And at this point, we don’t have the money.

Mayor Quan wants to undertake a national search for a new police chief, but she may face opposition from councilmembers who are wary of seeing another outside hire walk away before their contract is up – and with a full pension.

As municipalities struggle to retain expensive law enforcement personnel, some have begun to question years of emphasis on policing. This debate over whether to fund law enforcement or social programs, says Councilmember Kernighan, is one of the hallmarks of Oakland politics and will only intensify as money becomes scarcer.

KERNIGHAN: Because crime is such a big problem in Oakland and people feel so strongly about it, and that also because there is a great division among the population in Oakland over how they think crime should be dealt with – some people are very pro-law enforcement and not in favor of social program – but a great many people in Oakland feel that law enforcement is getting too much emphasis and that we should be dealing with the root causes of crime.

This is the political landscape that Chief Batts, himself considered progressive, found so difficult – and that will pose challenges for future police chiefs-including Interim Chief Howard Jordan, who despite his experience and his deep ties with both law enforcement and the community, is wading into a more tense time than ever before.

For Crosscurrents in Oakland, I’m Ali Winston

What do you think Oakland’s next police chief should do for the city? Let us know on our Facebook page.

Last Saturday, Governor Jerry Brown attracted national attention when he signed the California DREAM Act. The bill – which passed on a party line vote – would allow undocumented immigrants who have attended California high schools access to state financial aid for college. State Assembly member Marty Block, along with other Democrats applauded the bill.

MARTY BLOCK: It will mean a whole generation of students will get an advanced education who otherwise would not have that opportunity.

The DREAM Act will increase access for some prospective students, but cost and life circumstances remain challenges that many students face. Youth Radio’s Robyn Gee spoke with Eliezer Guerrero, De Ashla Miller, and Jameil Butler to get their perspectives on access to education.

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ELIEZER GUERRERO: My name is Eliezer Guerrero. I’m 18 years old. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and then I moved to Oakland, California, three years ago.

While I was in high school I was very eager to know that there were possibilities for people like me to go to college, especially since I saw my sister not being able to go to college due to her no legal status.

The first thing I did was to look how much they cost, so I made a budget, like budget planner. From there I saw the difference between San Francisco State and Dominican. I found out that SF State is less cost, for about the same education. Transportation is pretty expensive and travel from Oakland – it’s $8 a day, which is a lot of money.

I just have a list of everything I will be required to do in school, like to pay for tuition, books, the meal plan, if I there’s any emergencies, if I get hurt playing sports, pay for the insurance. That would really help me. That would be a good strategy.

In total my siblings – we’re seven. There were times when while I was in 12th grade when I would have to wake them up and make breakfast for them, and make sure they went to school clean, take a shower.

Most of the time, my mom takes care of my siblings. I do have time to study. In order for me to study I would have to stay after school at SF State in study hall or the library in order for me to have a quiet space.

There was never a time when I panicked. My mind was always set and – my ultimate goal was to go to college – and set an example for my siblings. I mean I wasn’t really worried due to the fact that I’m in the United States and every person in America has an American dream and my American dream is to one day graduate from a well-known college and become a veterinarian.

DE ASHLA MILLER: My name is De Ashla Miller, I grew up in Oakland, I’m from Oakland, and I go to Holy Names University.

During high school I always knew I wanted to go to college, and participated in extra curricular activities. Mostly in the medical field. I was always interning or doing some type of program, or volunteering at some type of hospital. So college was pretty much set in my mind, like that’s what I’m going to do because I knew I was going to be the first in my family to do…

Entering the third year I moved off campus because I got pregnant over the summer. I contemplated, like maybe I should just take a break from school, but I knew myself personally if I took a break then I wouldn’t go back…

I had my daughter during finals. In December – she came December 2nd – and I actually had a final that day, and I had a final the next day. I left against doctor’s orders to finish my finals. So I missed one, but the one the next day, after that I was like I’m totally not going to miss this, like I’m getting up, and the doctor was like, “No, you can’t go anywhere.” I’m like, “You know what? I have a final and I’m going to finish it.” So I left against doctor’s orders went and finished my final and went right back to the hospital with my daughter.

It’s just hard with her growing up. I can’t do homework absolutely at home at all – I have to do it at school or at Starbucks or something because it’s just really hard. She doesn’t like that unless she’s not here. It’s also when I see her it gives me all the more power and determination to do what I have to do…

Holy Names being that it being a private Catholic school, is really expensive. Their tuition is pretty close to Stanford’s tuition. We’re paying about room and board and tuition is running around $40,000 a year.

My budget is really, like really, really tight right now. But everything that needs to be done, like I say gets done first. That’s transportation to school, bills, things for my daughter. I’m going to support her in whatever decision that she decides to make, but also enforce that higher education is… I don’t want to say that it’s not an option, but it’s definitely a to-do, that’s definitely something that’s expected of her. I don’t want her to feel like you know, she’s a sad case, or that she has to struggle to get to where she’s going. I want things to be as easy as possible – easier than it was for me.

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JAMEIL BUTLER: My name is Jameil Butler, I’m 25 years old. I attended Fresno State and just recently moved back to the Bay Area. I was out there from 2004 to 2011.

Well college was always pushed in my household, specifically my mother was a college graduate of San Jose State. My father is a well-known basketball coach in the area. So we were always into sports, me and my older brother, and that was going to be a way to get into college in terms of getting a free education with an athletic scholarship.

At one point, my friend attended barber college and he started earning money by cutting a lot of people’s hair. I seen the type of money he was making, and you know, you go to school for one to two years to learn a skill that you can take anywhere around the globe and get money and support yourself. It opened my eyes to trades. I kind of second-guessed it a little bit, but I knew that college was something that ultimately I always wanted to do.

I researched Fresno State, it was a good school, it was two hours away, so I was away, but I was still home if I needed to be home. When I moved away, my mind was still in Oakland and my body was in Fresno. My priorities were in Oakland they weren’t in Fresno, that’s why my grades suffered my first couple years. I still wanted to be cool, or perceived as cool, and I still wanted to be around my friends. I didn’t want them to think I was a sellout – these are all false perceptions that I learned later. I just wanted to be still accepted… I didn’t want to miss out on anything, all birthdays, all events, baby showers… I just didn’t want to be left out. Not really realizing that I’m not left out; I’m just doing me.

Personally it was a whole life change. Once I realized that school was my first priority, then it made decision-making easy. There wasn’t no more going back to Oakland because I didn’t have the gas. There wasn’t no more eating out because I had to learn how to cook to save money. It was school first.

I know what I’m up against – the economy. It’s just tough. It’s tough for everybody. It’s tough for people with masters degrees, it’s tough for people of all ethnicities, young, old… So who’s going to say it’s not going to be tough for me?

These commentaries were produced by Youth Radio’s Robyn Gee. And send us your own by clicking here.

In local artist Brett Amory’s “Waiting” series of paintings, isolated figures inhabit washed out, spare landscapes—solitary people waiting at bus stops and crosswalks, on BART platforms or at the airport. It’s an ongoing series, focused on th… …

Over the weekend Governor Brown made decisions on nearly 200 bills, meeting the legislative deadline on Sunday night. Continuing his political “canoe strategy” of paddling a little left and a little right in order to move ahead, his decisions may rankle or be celebrated by those on both sides of the political spectrum…

One of the most controversial of the governor’s decisions may be his signing of the California Dream Act, which would grant undocumented immigrants access to state financial aid to attend public universities and community colleges…

The city of San Jose, facing a major budget shortfall, increasing cuts to city services, and layoffs of municipal workers such as police and firefighters, is considering a new budget reform technique: offering city workers the option of choosing a lower pension. It is unclear how many employees would take this option…

In response to rising poverty levels and food insecurity, Oakland public schools are offering more food assistance to their students and families. Nearly 70 percent of students now qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and some schools will begin offering dinner to their students after classes, in addition to providing free breakfast and food pantry programs…

Outside of the Apple Store on Palo Alto’s University Avenue last night, a makeshift memorial for Steve Jobs grew from a few signs, to flowers, to candles. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he’ll miss Jobs, who died at 56. He says that Jobs had told… …

Silicon Valley is the tech capital of the country, the birthplace of tech giants like HP, Apple, and Google – but its history is still a short one. The name “Silicon Valley” was first published in 1971 – it’s a reference to the use of silicon by various semiconductor and computer companies based in the area at the time. In fact, the first silicon microchip was created at Fairchild Semiconductor International in San Jose. And one of the engineers who made that first chip was Julius Blank.

JULIUS BLANK: Quite often I was allowed to work unsupervised … nobody knew what to do anyway, they couldn’t tell me because no one knew anymore, so I was left to my own devices. Well, you grow up pretty quick if you have that much responsibility, especially if you want to do it right.

Blank died last week at age 86. Shortly before he passed away, KALW’s Lauren Meltzer had the chance to talk with him about the special group of engineers he worked with who are considered the founders of Silicon Valley. Here’s an excerpt from that interview.

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LAUREN MELTZER: Do you think that in terms of the work ethic that your group had, that it’s the same now with Silicon Valley and the entrepreneurial environment?

JULIUS BLANK: I don’t know what it is now. It’s quite different. I hear these stories of what’s happened. Other companies – Google and all these other companies where they have these free lunches and all the perks – and gee, we never had anything like that! We used to buy lunch on our own nickel. The fact that you have to give things like that, I guess that’s nice.

People talk about innovation, which is one of my pet peeves. There’s little innovation going on these days. There are little improvements on what’s been around, but nothing fundamentally newer that strikes you. Okay, so Apple comes out with an iPod or an iPad but it’s the same stuff that’s been around; nothing different. It’s just shaped a little differently, maybe they use better materials, but the one’s and zero’s are going the same way. You’re going to have more of them and faster, maybe, until some satellite dies and you’re out of business anyway.

MELTZER: What are you most proud of when you think back on those years?

BLANK: Gee, I don’t even think I can answer that. I was very lucky to be part of a group like this – that doesn’t happen often. Maybe once in a lifetime. It’s hard to explain, but there used to be an excitement in a room where everyone is working on four or five different things at once. You start conversations back and forth with different people, pick a month at different times, and no one loses a step. And all of a sudden someone come out of it with some weird thing he wanted done, and we’d find a way to do it.

One thing I appreciate, quite often, was that I was allowed to work unsupervised. No one knew what to do anyway – they couldn’t tell me because nobody knew. So I was left to my own devises. You grow up pretty quick if you have those responsibilities, especially if you do it right.

MELTZER: Do you think the success of the group was the combination of everyone, or do you think there were characteristics in all of you that made you work so well together?

BLANK: You know, something like this has to be a group effort to work. There’s not person alive – now, maybe there will be later – that has enough experience and knowledge to make this happen. You need a team working at it, with different discipline and experience levels and different temperaments. It can’t be done with one or two people.

MELTZER: So if you had any advice to give to this generation of wannabe entrepreneurs and inventors, what would your advice be?

BLANK: I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t want to give any advice like that, because that’s a personal matter. It depends what your goals are. If you want to make a lot of money, that’s one thing. If you just wanna do something striking and unique, that’s another technique.

MELTZER: What about those who are trying to do the “striking and unique”?

BLANK: Learn as much as you can about as many things as you can handle. Especially the fundamentals. Mama Nature – don’t screw around with Mama Nature. Understand she’s a tough lady, but don’t think you’re going to get away with anything.